“But, Mousie, thou art no thy-lane (not alone) in proving foresight may be vain.” – Robert Burns from his poem “To a Mouse”

What a wild year 2024 was when it came to government and politics.

The presidential election itself was one that will be remembered for several generations to come. While we expected the presidential election would be a spectacle at this time last year, few could have predicted it would reach the level it did.

We had a main candidate drop out, an assassination attempt wounding a candidate and coming within an inch of doing much worse, and legal troubles engulfing both Joe Biden and Donald Trump along with many of the people within their orbits.

Aaron Sorkin would not be bold enough to write this much drama into a Hollywood screenplay.

It would be a fool’s errand to try to predict what will be coming around the corner in 2025. Hence, I will play the role of your fool today, beloved reader.

I, at least, have enough sense not to make any concrete predictions. These are only issues I think will be interesting and worth keeping up with in 2025. Some of these topics may become full columns to themselves in later weeks.

At the national level, as it was in his first term, all eyes will be glued to how well Trump is able to exert his influence throughout all parts of the government. He now has experience with how the governing process works, so he is less reliant on others in setting up an administration.

Nevertheless, he already has run into obstacles in some of his maneuvering before taking office. His push to remove the debt ceiling, an artificial limit set by Congress for how much the federal government can borrow, was shot down by Democrats and a faction of Republicans dedicated to reducing the national debt.

Additionally, his first choice for attorney general – Matt Gaetz, a former U.S. House of Representatives member from Florida – was forced to withdraw after several U.S. senators shared concerns about Gaetz’s personal history involving allegations of prostitution and drug use.

The Senate is in charge of approving the president’s appointments for the leaders of major government departments. Several of Trump’s other potential appointments have come under heavy criticism, but Trump has stuck by them so far.

Trump’s legal complications also present challenges for government’s division of power. Under the U.S. Constitution, the federal government and the states’ governments are supposed to be relatively equal in the amount of power and authority they possess.

Trump has already been convicted in a state court in New York for falsifying business documents. This ruling is under appeal.

He is facing charges in a Georgia state court for attempting to pressure Georgia officials to change the outcome of Georgia’s election totals in the 2020 presidential election after narrowly losing to Biden.

What happens if a sitting president is convicted of criminal charges by a state court, particularly if those charges carry any kind of jail time, has no clear answer. It does not even have an unclear answer.

We have not even gotten to any policies or laws for which Trump has advocated. This includes everything from tariffs to immigration to somehow purchasing Greenland to dozens of other issues in between.

Some in the media have dubbed Trump’s three-ring-circus style of governing as Trumpworld. Whatever you want to call it, it never lacks for discussion points.

Closer to home, this year’s legislative session kicks off February 4. Some of the major issues that will be considered include:

• The funding formula for how the state distributes money to public schools. Currently, the formula distributes money based on the number of students in the school. Some legislators are advocating for adjusting distributions based on the individual needs of students.
• Improving the criminal justice system. The ever-rising cost of building a new state prison, the parole system and crime within prisons have received a great deal of scrutiny recently.
• The ol’ reliable topic of the lottery and gambling. Legislation involving this came agonizingly close to passing last year. Will it be a high-water mark, or will it provide enough momentum to push the issue over the top this year?
• Progress on completing a new Alabama State House.

We will also see the governor’s race for 2026 begin to take shape. It is apparent Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth plans to run, but who will challenge him?

Of course, there will be surprises along the way just as there were in 2024. Government is no different from real life in this respect. I hope whatever unfolds in your life in 2025 brings you blessings.